When The Ritz-Carlton, Naples opened in the mid-1980s, it was more than a new place to sleep beside the sea. It sparked a luxury lodging movement in the region, setting the bar so high that it became the standard for exceptional beachfront stays on the Gulf.
Florida’s Paradise Coast has no shortage of pretty beaches, pleasant spas, or postcard sunsets. And yet, travelers keep returning to The Ritz-Carlton, Naples like it’s magnetic north, generation after generation, decade after decade. Staff stay just as long. Something here is different.
Today, after a sweeping $100 million transformation, the resort has bolstered its position as the area’s crown jewel—bigger, brighter, and brimming with signature experiences you won’t find anywhere else along the Gulf. Here are the moments that make this storied property singular.
Relax in North America’s most robust Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Club Lounge
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
Central to the hotel’s multimillion-dollar rebirth is the 14-story Vanderbilt Tower, designed by architect Cooper Carry with interiors by Parker Torres Design. It’s a modern complement—with curves, glass, and LEED Silver certification—to the resort’s original Italianate architecture.
Tucked discreetly inside is the Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge, the brand’s largest in North America. At 4,000 square feet, it feels less like a lounge and more like a private social club with Gulf views.
Five daily culinary presentations roll out like mini-celebrations—mornings of crisp bacon and muesli; afternoons of hummus, crudités, and inevitable second helpings; and evenings where lobster, risotto, and champagne tastings drift in. There’s also a 24-hour, grab-and-go pantry for those round-the-clock cravings.
A full-service bar anchors the space, staffed by bartenders who remember your drink, while a media room, children’s room, and exclusive programming (think chef demos or partnerships with local artisans) add to the sense of curated abundance. The Club Lounge is a beautifully self-contained world, a hotel within the hotel, reserved for guests who book the Vanderbilt Tower’s Club Rooms and Suites.
Get a treatment at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Spa
The Conservatory of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Spa
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Naples is different, too. It’s a three-level sanctuary with 32 treatment rooms and not a single “template” service on the menu. And at 51,000 square feet, it feels like a standalone wellness destination.
Guests can find serenity during treatments such as Calm Seas, Organic Warmed Spice Mud Wrap, Tranquility for Two, or the gentlemen-only Power Hour. Exclusive to the resort, the Gulf Stone Massage leans into local elements with warm basalt stones gliding across tired shoulders and traveling down the spine for 80 languid minutes.
Spa guests are encouraged to arrive 30 minutes before treatments, and you’ll want to. This is a spa worth lingering in. Slip into the herbal steam room, drift between hot and cold plunges, take a few unhurried moments in the whirlpool or sauna. There are quiet nooks and softly lit lounges where the only thing demanded of you is exhaling.
Eat at Naples beachfront restaurant Gumbo Limbo
A meal with a view at Gumbo Limbo
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
Of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples’ dining venues, The Grill, a high-end steakhouse, caters to carnivores; Sofra offers Mediterranean fare; Nolita transports diners to Italy by way of NYC; and DUSK serves the freshest sushi along with Asian fusion dishes. But Gumbo Limbo is the property’s sun-kissed soul. This open-air seafood hangout offers a front-row seat for the sunset, channeling a beach-bar vibe.
Come golden hour, guests drift in with a cocktail agenda. Servers weave between tables carrying coconut shrimp with orange horseradish dip, Key West conch chowder, miso-glazed salmon, towering grouper sandwiches, and crave-worthy lobster quesadillas. There are no reservations and no walls to separate you from the soundscape of waves while glasses clink in the background. The dress code is simple: casual attire, full appetite, and your phone switched to airplane mode to give the sunset your undivided attention.
Walk to the Gulf Coast beach
Before your toes ever touch the sand, The Ritz-Carlton, Naples invites you into another ecosystem entirely. The resort’s private mangrove boardwalk—unique on this stretch of the Gulf—threads through a protected preserve; a shaded world inhabited by darting fish, shy turtles, and the occasional snowy egret.
Eventually, the path meanders past Gumbo Limbo and gives way to the grand reveal: three miles of white, powdery sand along the Gulf Coast. The pristine, expansive beach is the resort’s front yard and the perfect place to simply sit, toes buried in the sand, watching the horizon melt from gold to indigo.
